On 'Americana' and Fashion History (Patreon)

A few more thoughts:

People also killed me with their fake ass performative activism and virtue signaling this year, AOC IS A F*CKING DISGRACE!!! Put a real unhoused person in that ‘Tax The Rich’ dress and send them in your place or wear a dress made out of money then light yourself on fire and then I’ll be impressed bih!

Indya Moore with her whining all over Facebook when instead she could’ve done something like bailing out the protestors outside the Met Gala who were [rightfully!] protesting capitalism and police presence. If you feel guilty Indya just say that 🙄 If I ever got the opportunity to attend the Met gala, I wouldn’t feel guilty 🤷🏾‍♀️ I’d wear head to toe Black American designers, bring my niggas and make everyone uncomfortable. I’d use my money to bail out protestors and bring them inside with me TOO lol like there’s things you can do if you feel strongly about this stuff that and none of them involve a Facebook post! Marlon Brando very famously sent an Indigenous American activist, Sacheen Littlefeather, to accept (well, decline) his Best Actor award for The Godfather. When he won, she went up on stage and gave a speech about Hollywood’s portrayal of Native Americans and racism against NAs. Real statements at these type of events are possible if that’s what you’re about. 

I feel the capitalist structure creates dissonance because on the one hand we want Black artists to receive compensation for labor but we also recognize that said compensation contributes to the class structure. It seems like Indya is bothered because the compensation for her work (acting, modeling, etc) has put her in a position that allows her to go to the Met Gala while people are being arrested outside. I feel that dissonance being created from the fact that we want artists (esp Black trans women artists for example) to be compensated for labor yet we also [rightfully] deem a certain amount of monetary compensation too much. I do believe it’s okay to be compensated if you’re good at what you do, it’s okay to attend the Met Gala, and if you want to make a sociopolitical statement with your compensation as well, it’s possible. Whining on Facebook after the fact ain’t it tho.

Shout outs to Lewis Hamilton who spent his own money to provide a space for Black designers, I like what he did because it costs like $30k-$35k and up for a table at the Met gala and it’s invite-only which normally excludes a LOT of Black designers that can’t afford it or don’t have enough notoriety to attend. Him using his own money to buy a table for Black designers to give them press at what’s arguably the biggest night in fashion is a better statement than ‘Tax The Rich’ on a dress or a sob story Facebook post after the fact. And it wasn’t just ‘exposure,’ he spent REAL MONEY. Here’s a buzzfeed piece on it tho: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adeonibada/lewis-hamilton-black-american-designers-met-gala

Rihanna truly disappointed me with that Balenciaga, if she was trying to give a shout out to Black American street fashion she should’ve worn a Black American street designer! That song and dance about that stupid beanie did not do it for me 😒 At least Rocky had on an Amercian designer for his folk art inspired quilt: https://www.vogue.com/article/how-eli-russell-linnetz-built-the-ultimate-californian-brand-erl-dover-street-market-paris.

And if Rih INSISTED on wearing a European designer there’s way better concepts for a ‘high fashion’ street theme, she just looked a mess like she didn’t even try and just threw a beanie on and said “it’s street.” Wearing a beanie with Balenciaga doesn’t make it Americana!

And I didn’t even mention other classic American eras like gangster/pinstripes, zoot suits, conchs, perms, Adidas tracksuits, super low rise jeans, fedoras, paperboy caps, short sets, jelly sandals… a spin on any or these could have worked. The point is not to wear a costume but to be inspired by the theme! Met Museum has announced they will be doing a part 2 in May 2022 cuz the assignment was NOT UNDERSTOOD CHILE 😩 YOU ALL FAILED

For more info on the Black roots of grunge/punk:

https://pleasekillme.com/bam-bam-tina-bell/

https://zora.medium.com/the-black-mother-of-grunge-who-inspired-nirvana-95886f21eccc

https://thefortyfive.com/opinion/the-unsung-tina-bell-invented-grunge/

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